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So not too long ago I had the opportunity to hear an entrepreneur speak. He came and spoke to me and everyone I work with. This man has been very successful in life. With school and other things that he has accomplished, he is doing very well. Even if you had just met the guy and hadn’t known his history of success as a business owner, you would still sense the accomplishment in his attitude. Not only did I learn a lot about the subject he was talking about (SEO for websites), I realized a very important concept that might not have been something he intended to teach; the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that the successful people are willing to do what the unsuccessful people are not.

Now this man was extremely smart and knowledgeable at what he did. However, if he did not apply that knowledge, he for sure would not be where he is at today. Knowledge is useless without application. After realizing this, I took a look at what I was doing with my life so far. Was I applying all of my knowledge? Was I doing things to be successful that other people were not? The answer was no.

A habit that I have been trying to break is being a wishful thinker. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to dream. But it’s even better to dream and work towards that dream. Anything really is possible with the right work ethic and attitude. No one should ever tell you, “you can’t”. If you wanna see an incredible movie that displays this concept, watch Rudy. This is one of my favorite inspirational movies ever. It promotes the fact that ANYTHING is possible.

So what determines success? There could be a lot of opinions and answers to this, but I think that success is determined by ensuring that you have done your absolute best. You could measure this by setting goals and achieving them. Or, you could simply track the things that you have accomplished for the day, week, month, or even year and be set on getting better. Whatever the method, what’s important is improvement and doing your best.

Oh ya know, just another one of those pet peeves of mine. I CANNOT stand negative people. You may know some at school or work. They are out there for sure. Every word that comes out of their mouth is either a complaint or just something negative. I for sure try and avoid associating with people like this. What’s even worse, is when you get two of those together in the same conversation. Two negatives do not equal a positive.

I caught myself in this scenario the other day. I was hanging out with some friends at the new place I live. I am the sociable type to just talk to everyone. As I went getting to know people, I found myself in a conversation with the most negative people I have ever heard. Now I thought that this was just a rant and they were venting. Joining another conversation later another day proved that to be wrong. Really must suck always having a negative outlook on life.

One thing that I have learned over time is that your attitude determines your happiness no matter what situation you are in. Happiness is a choice, no matter the circumstance. Now I know that things come up and trials can get in the way, but the important thing is that your outlook does not change. YOU CHOOSE the way you live your life and even though road blocks may come, you can still be extremely happy. This is something that I for sure learned on my mission. Every day going out in the cold and rainy weather walking around and getting rejected by plenty of people. Having to chop wood and build fires to stay warm. I easily could have hated every moment, but in fact, was one of the best times of my life. Again, happiness is a choice. What you are you going to choose?

I honestly wonder how long it took to do something like this? Speaking of talent, there is a basketball tourney coming up this Saturday. Taking 1st will probably be a breeze… only as long as I get to listen to my pump up song. What song do you listen to in order to pump yourself up?

We all live life by rules… I guess. Whether we choose to abide by them or not is a different story. Some rules I would say are a lot more important than others. For example, the rule that you should not date your best friends ex girlfriend is far more important than the rule not to eat your roommates food. The rule that seems to be the most important is the one that is most talked about, the golden rule.

For those of you who don’t know what the golden rule is, it is to “treat others how you’d like to be treated.” This rule is pretty interesting to me. It assumes that most people like to be treated nice. It implies that applying this rule will decrease pride and increase generosity. However, most people neglect this rule or don’t consistently apply it (myself included). There are several reasons why people do not abide by this, but I am going to identify one that I have seen and experienced; the failure to be treated positively in return.

It sucks to feel like you put a lot into something, and get little out of it. Whether it be on a project you are working on, a sport you are practicing, or even into a relationship (or friendship) with someone. What seems to be the most disappointing is putting a lot into a relationship with someone, and then getting very little in return. I think that almost everyone experiences that same feeling of being taken advantage of. This can have a HUGE negative effect on people, depending on the person of course. Some people can be so distraught about this, that they decide not to treat anyone nicely again.

When this happens a common thought arises; life is not fair. Well my friends, I am here to strongly agree that life is indeed fair. This applies to EVERYONE. Doesn’t matter what situation you were put in, where you grew up, who your friends or family is, what tragedy has come upon you, life is fair. Even if you experience the disappointment of putting so much into a relationship and then getting nothing out of it. The reason I believe this, is the rule of compensation. Every act of kindness or effort you put into something, you will be compensated. Whether it’s now, later, or after this life, it will be done. The challenges that each person faces are also very much fair. What it boils down to is that challenges make you stronger (if you let them) and every challenge you receive is a challenge needed.

To sum things up, abide by the golden rule. Don’t be the person bitter because you didn’t get the same treatment in return. Life doesn’t have a remote, you gotta get up and change it yourself.